Seattle Freeze v SoNo Sharks Preview

Projected Lineups:

SEA: Nada Abbas, Mariam Metwally, Hannah Craig, Laila Sedky (reserve)

SoNo: Salma Hany, Margot Prow, Lucia Bautista 

 

At long last, the NSL’s west coast representative officially makes their debut. The Seattle Freeze are travelling to Norwalk, CT to take on the SoNo Sharks, and they’re bringing a strong lineup with them. Nada Abbas, World #14, headlines the group. Abbas is tailor-made for the NSL format. Her sharp attacking play will be a handful for opposing players. Seattle paired Abbas with Mariam Metwally, another aggressive attack-minded player. It’s clear owner Ali Piyarali had a vision in constructing his initial roster: aggressive, attacking play. If Hannah Craig ends up being the third player in Seattle’s lineup, she’ll likely provide the defensive presence who elongates rallies and takes time off the clock. 

 

The hometown Sharks boast a top 15 player of their own in Salma Hany. Hany has proven she can lead the Sharks to victory before, as the Sharks still have yet to lose a regular season game in franchise history. Hany will shoulder a lot of responsibility in this matchup, and SoNo will hope that she can build leads for them and help weather the storm of Seattle’s attacking duo. Margot Prow and Lucia Bautista are both holdovers from last season, and both will be called upon in defensive roles. Prow in particular has proven herself capable here, but will it be enough to complement Salma Hany’s offensive output? 

 

This match is tough to project. On the one hand, SoNo has proven they can win games with this core group of players. On the other hand, Seattle is bringing a lot of talent to the table. In the women’s division in particular, it’s hard to go wrong betting on talent. That points the favor towards Seattle. But, SoNo will keep it close and fight for all 70 minutes. In all four matches of 2026, the team that’s won the first period has ended up losing the match. I wouldn’t be shocked if that trend continued in this match, with SoNo grabbing the first period and Seattle winning the next two.

 

PREDICTION: Seattle 3-1 SoNo